Alma holds off determined Siloam Springs

ALMA — In her playing career for the Lady Airedales, first-year Alma Coach Chanlee Bottoms did it all.

She earned state tournament Most Valuable Player honors while helping guide Alma to a championship in 2005, finished her career as the school’s all-time threepoint leader and was the MVP of the state All-Star game her senior year.

But on Tuesday, Bottoms accomplished something she had never done at Alma. That’s pick up a league win as a coach.

The sister duo of Jaden Gramlich and Jordan Gramlich scored every Lady Airedale point in the fourth quarter to help Alma put away Siloam Springs in a 46-38 5A-West victory at Charles B. Dyer Arena.

“I don’t really think so much about this being for me,” Bottoms said. “I think this is as a team and how much we needed this. I hope this momentum helps us carry over and we can keep it going. That to me is more than anything.”

Alma jumped out to a 15-7 lead after the first quarter and had a 25-13 halftime advantage. Siloam Springs found its groove in the second half to make it a downto-the-wire finish.

Siloam Springs (8-9, 0-2) won the third quarter 8-6 then cut Alma’s advantage to 37-33 in the fourth quarter.

But that’s when the Gramlichs took over for the Lady Airedales (7-11, 1-1). Jaden Gramlich and Jordan Gramlich combined for 15 fourth-quarter points to help seal the victory.

“They struggled a little bit early,” Bottoms said of the sisters. “But in the fourth quarter, they showed up on the scoresheet. They all do the little things that help us win games. Jaden hit big shots for us.

”She changed the momentum. I think she had one of her better games ever. Jordan left some points on the court, but she had a double-double. That just shows she makes an impact outside of scoring.”

Jaden Gramlich finished with a team-high 14 points to go with 6 rebounds. Jordan Gramlich had 11 points with 17 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and a block.

“My purpose is to do everything,” Jordan Gramlich said. “I didn’t score like I should have. But if I’m not scoring, I have to do other things well, too. I wanted to play well in the last quarter.”

Siloam Springs was led by Emily Keehn’s game-high 19 points to go with seven rebounds, a steal, an assist and a block.

“She did everything for us in this one,” Siloam Springs Coach Beau Tillery said. “She is very capable of that. For us to be successful, we are going to have to have that and more. If we hit some good looks that didn’t fall, we are right there in this one.”

The Lady Airedales assisted on their initial five baskets and had 12 assists on 16 field goals in the game.

Daimya Parker finished with a game-high six assists for Alma.